Charlie Nicholas branded Arsenal's defending as "hopeless" has he watched his old club's annual stumble at Bolton Wanderers.

First-half strikes from Abdoulaye Faye and Stelios sent the Gunners to a defeat that not only leaves them 14 points adrift of Chelsea, but also behind arch rivals Spurs in the table.

And although, Thierry Henry aside, they offered little going forward, for Nicholas the biggest problem was at the other end of the pitch.

"They defended very, very deep, which meant the midfield couldn't get forward and as a result up front, Henry and van Persie never got going, so it wasn't a great surprise when Bolton took the lead," he said.

"It was a surprise that Faye scored, because he was the holding midfielder. It ended up with three corners in a row, Stelios got round the back and it was a poor clearance from Lauren, but it ended up at the back post with Faye challenging Fabregas - which tells you the story really.

"Bolton could have scored more. I have to say Jens Lehmann played very well today - he made three or four exceptional saves.

"But defensively Arsenal were hopeless. Lauren just can't defend. He's always looking for Kolo Toure to cover him and as soon as he has to defend in that right-back position, he needs cover.

"They aren't playing as a unit at the back on their travels."

The goals aside, Bolton caused several flutters in the Arsenal defence and unsettled them all afternoon with Sam Allardyce admitting his gameplan was to get in behind their defence and get them running towards their own goal.

And although he is not exactly a fan of their approach, Nicholas was happy to pay credit to another impressive performance from the Trotters.

"Bolton deserved to win," he admitted. "They were hungrier, they had more desire to get on the ball and do what they are good at, which is getting good early crosses in from every angle - and Arsenal knew that from the start and it put them on the back foot.

"They (Bolton) don't catch my eye in terms of flamboyance and they're not really good to watch, but they are very, very effective.

"They do a professional job, they know how to win football matches, which is more than I can say for Arsenal on the road!"

OK, Ill agree with Chaz then..... hopeless